Eclipse

Today’s growing computing demands are not going to slow down any time soon, requiring bold new architectures and approaches to create the world’s highest performing CPU. AheadComputing is leading the charge by leveraging RISC-V architecture to deliver high-efficiency, high-powered processing?to meet the new, unique computing demands across HPC, AI, cloud, and edge devices. Led by semiconductor industry veterans and former Intel CPU architects, Ahead aims to surpass the giants in the market including Intel, Apple, Arm, and AMD. ? The company has locations in Portland, Oregon, and Guadalajara, Mexico. They are looking for talented engineers to join their team: Senior Staff CPU Microarchitecture & Logic Design Engineer: https://bit.ly/3XtCsXI Staff Physical Design Engineer: https://bit.ly/4bAbGD1 For all open careers at Ahead Computing: https://bit.ly/3FgqElo

Solar power has become an increasingly attractive resource to meet the world’s growing energy needs - the global market has tripled in the past decade. Even without subsidies, it’s less expensive than fossil fuels, and it can be deployed much faster and easier than other renewable energy sources. In the U.S. alone, two-thirds of our new energy capacity came from solar power in 2024. With the rise of AI and expanded digitization of physical industries, that figure is only expected to rise. This is why it’s high time to build up our domestic capabilities to develop and manufacture solar power technology at scale. In times of conflict, energy sources can easily be weaponized by the countries that dominate the market against the countries that depend on them for their resources. With geopolitical tensions and tariffs rising, the U.S. must reduce our reliance on foreign sources of solar power technology as part of our overall mission to achieve energy independence – and to capture a share of the growing market. This convergence of factors makes now the perfect time for an innovative new company to reinvent the U.S. solar market. This is Tandem PV. Using a combination of perovskite and silicon layers, Tandem has developed first-of-its-kind integrated solar panels that represent a significant step function in the amount of energy that can be captured from the sun – the company’s panels are a third more powerful than traditional panels. Along with its differentiated technology, Tandem is building the domestic manufacturing capabilities to offer complete solutions to utility-scale customers. We haven’t seen true innovation in solar power technology for decades. Tandem has proven its ability to change the status quo, and Eclipse is proud to lead the company’s $50M Series A funding round. Energy independence is not only a cornerstone of national security – it also ensures our ability to keep innovating at the rate and scale required to dramatically transform our most critical industries. Eclipse believes that embracing solar power (along with nuclear power) is critical to building a strong portfolio of resources to ensure U.S. energy independence. We’re excited to be working with Tandem to achieve this goal. More on today’s news from?Eclipse partner Greg Reichow here. https://lnkd.in/gU_hUip6

Following a $1.05B Series C funding round, Wayve continues its global growth alongside ongoing testing programs to advance its AI-driving technology. Today, the team announced the opening of their new on-road testing and development hub in Baden-Württemberg, deploying a new fleet of test vehicles to advance its automated driving technology. This expansion strengthens Wayve’s presence in Germany’s automotive innovation ecosystem, fostering collaboration with leading manufacturers and engineering talent. For more on today’s news: https://bit.ly/4kkExiL Congratulations Alex Kendall and Wayve team!

Critical minerals are front page news (again) this week, this time due to Trump’s half-trillion-dollar barter with Ukraine in return for U.S. support. That’s no small gambit. Ukraine controls more than 100 major deposits of critical minerals, including deposits of nearly half of the 50 minerals the U.S. Geological Survey lists as essential to our country’s defense and economic development capabilities –?and for which we are currently at the mercy of other countries to secure. Our dependence on foreign sources for the elements essential to everything from defense technology like jet engines and nuclear submarines to everyday consumer tech like electric vehicles and smartphones is a cause for concern – and one which we shouldn’t rely on high-stakes deal-making to mitigate. As investors in technologies for the defense sector and other critical mineral-dependent physical industries such as manufacturing, energy, and transportation, Eclipse has been thinking about what we can do to wean our country off our dependence on others for these underlying essential elements. This prompted Eclipse Partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis to revisit the Eclipse thesis on critical minerals, which Eclipse Venture Partner Ryan Gibson published in 2023. The full thesis is linked in the comments, with the main ideas — including opportunities for startups — available in the slides below. If you are building in this space, get in touch with us!

While many worry China has won the EV battle, we contend the embodied AI war is just beginning. In a new research paper published by Morgan Stanley, Analyst Adam Jonas detailed a driverless ride in London that left him uncharacteristically “speechless.” The development vehicle from Eclipse portfolio company Wayve used only 7 cameras, no radar, no LIDAR, no HD maps, and no labeling — it was simply using an end-to-end AI-enabled foundation model trained on a fraction of the data that Tesla has. For more on Wayve’s leadership in this critical domain:

AI advances are super charging the robotics industry, enabling robots to navigate their environment more efficiently, process data, and react in real time — all without the need for a roboticist to calibrate their every move. Business Insider's Samantha Stokes recently identified 12 U.S.-based AI robotics startups to watch this year, including Eclipse portfolio companies Simbe, Mytra, and Third Wave Automation: https://bit.ly/43do3mu

Precision medicine is the future. Access to individualized healthcare protocols are already improving how we screen for, diagnose, treat — and even prevent — disease. But the future is not evenly distributed, and many patients without access capabilities are left behind. We are at an inflection point to bring precision medicine to the world at a cost and scale that matter. Multiple technologies that can unlock the true promise of precision are maturing simultaneously: 1. Robotics that convert signal into data at scale: High-throughput processing of physical samples (the ground truth data source for medicine) enables us to generate many terabytes of previously uncaptured data. 2. Advanced compute and foundation models that convert data into insights: Novel compute architectures combined with advances in large AI models provide the capability to extract clinically relevant prognostic information from extremely large datasets. 3. Novel clinical capabilities that convert insights into treatments: Advanced diagnostics and targeted therapeutics (along with progressive regulatory and reimbursement strategies) allow clinicians to properly use these insights to provide the best possible treatment pathway for patients. Yet, technology does not equal a product, and these methods are primarily used by highly advanced centers to treat a small percentage of the population. We need to take advantage of this convergence of technology to build companies that can deliver precision medicine at scale. One specific area of interest is digital pathology. Why? ?? Pathology is the standard of care —everyone with cancer and other serious or complex conditions goes through a pathology work-up (but not genomics and molecular diagnostics). ?? The data collected in pathology is rich — each slide contains a tremendous amount of clinically relevant data.? ?? Less than 5% of pathology workflows are digitized. Now is the time to change this. With the regulatory landscape evolving in favor of clinical AI, a proliferation of digitization hardware, and a massive, untapped market, digital and computation pathology has the potential to have a major impact in precision medicine. Eclipse’s overarching mission is to transform foundational industries through the marriage of bits and atoms. We are working together with entrepreneurs, research institutions, and policymakers to turn precision medicine into the healthcare of the future. If you want to join us on this journey please get in touch: [email protected].

Colorado-based True Anomaly recently announced it is expanding its operations by opening a 90,000-square-foot factory in Long Beach, California. The factory will be dedicated to the design, development, and manufacturing of new products in the military market and places the company in closer proximity to the Space Systems Command in LA, in addition to tapping into Southern California's deep aerospace talent pool. For more on the news from SpaceNews: https://bit.ly/4gTlM2V Congratulations Even Rogers and the True Anomaly team! For open roles: https://bit.ly/4gWcmDD

Eclipse’s mission is to fuel the Industrial Evolution through the marriage of bits and atoms. Digitizing physical industries — particularly in the form of embodied AI — requires access to more powerful, energy-efficient, and sustainable computing processing. AheadComputing is making this possible, and Eclipse is excited to participate in their $21.5M seed round. Led by semi-conductor industry veterans and former Intel Corporation CPU architects, Debbie Marr, Jonathan Pearce, Mark Dechene, and Srikanth Srinivasan, AheadComputing is leveraging RISC-V architecture to deliver high-efficiency, high-powered processing for modern computing needs. With this investment, AheadComputing joins Eclipse’s portfolio of high-performance computing startups like Efficient Computer, Tenstorrent, and Cerebras Systems, whose processor innovations are critical to extend progress beyond the digital realm — these kinds of companies will help transform the physical world. More on today’s news from Eclipse Partner Greg Reichow: https://bit.ly/3QqlzcL Thank you to Reuters Max A. Cherney for covering today's news! https://bit.ly/4hJqOAn

At an alarming frequency, crime continues to occur in the public and private spaces we use every day. 40% of Americans report not feeling safe walking within a mile of their homes, and people are increasingly worried about their safety at everyday institutions like schools, gyms, workplaces, healthcare facilities, event venues, and retail spaces. Fortunately, technology can have a massive impact on how we secure the world around us, as demonstrated by Verkada: the company’s platform leverages a cutting-edge mix of hardware and software to create a secure, interconnected environment in a variety of physical spaces. Using cameras armed with computer vision, IoT sensors, and controls, Verkada can enable real-time identification of threats and immediate response — including access lock-downs, alarms, and emergency system alerting. Eclipse is proud to co-lead Verkada's $200M Series E fundraise. With more than 1.5 million deployed systems, Verkada’s massive base of integrated hardware provides the company with proprietary access to one of the largest (and growing) databases of physical-world data. Now serving 30,000 customers around the world, Verkada is a huge part of the solution to safety threats. More on today’s news from Eclipse Partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis: https://bit.ly/4k8pjgv